It happens all the time because sometimes people are more interested in making sure they'll be on the flight than they are in praying that there are empty seats for them to get for free.

If on a full are/mileage ticket the no, they will not be upgraded, not even to Comfort+ without purchasing it. Treated just like a normal passenger in that case.

8 is actually pretty low. I've been on lists of 60+ on multiple occasions. International flights I'd say the average is about 15. I was recently on the 747 DTW-AMS with about 25 open in J and roughly 40 people on the list.


Quite a bit of my flying is paid. Flights are packed full these days so just buying a ticket, especially considering how cheap some flights are now, is the better option.

Paying to fly your own carrier is usually a last resort situation. I've never known of a employee doing it, although I know it happens. Pass privileges and then ZED fares are always first and second priority for the people I know. Having to pay for a revenue fare is just not a common scenario.

An average of 15 means a half-empty or near half-empty D1 cabin on all planes except the 747. That's definitely not a systemwide average of empty seats on D1 routes. I wish it was for non-rev purposes, but it's not.

Seems like it would really help reduce confusion if Delta changed some terminology so that they weren't using the same terms to describe different things.

We tend to think of the standby list as being a list of passengers who are not ticketed on our flight, but hope to find an open seat (SDS). I have been told that the "Standby List" is not necessarily comprised of those people, though it may well include some of them. It is primarily a list of confirmed passengers who have a ticket on that flight, but do not yet have an assigned seat.

So you could have passengers who bought a first class ticket but didn't select a seat at booking (or checkin), who would move from the standby list directly to FC. This could also be true for C+, and obviously for main cabin. You could have E fares, you could have non-revs. More likely, you could have a combination of some or all of these things. I once used an RUC about 4 hours before a flight, was told that it cleared immediately by the Diamond Desk, but didn't get a seat assignment and found myself on the Standby List at the airport. I was first to clear when the GA started processing, but it made me pretty nervous for a while.

Summary - Standby List is not equal to "standby passenger". Seems like they could avoid a lot of confusion and avert a lot of "Shena" allegations if they changed "Standby List" to "Awaiting Seat Assignment", or something like that.

Did you pay for D1 and not get it? If not, what would you be complaining to Delta about? That you didn't get something you didn't pay for?

How can you tell a non rev on the standby list?

Some people Just Know.

You can't. Everyone on the standby list who got a Delta One seat could've been confirmed Delta One customers who needed seat assignments.

You must be the only two who didn't get the "How to tell a non-rev" memo!

;)

http://images.memes.com/meme/1726613

You know, here I go thinking I'm on the verge a a monumental travel moment and................. z

A GUC by the OP properly listed would have cleared before the standby non-revs. Mileage upgrades? Who knows.

The FO must be doing pretty well considering median salary of a Delta pilot is $246K.

Mileage upgrades aren't supposed to go to the gate, but if there are D1 seats and the GA has time and the GA knows how to pull miles for an upgrade and you ask nicely, maybe it would work. YMMV.

Well.. There is one way. If you can catch a glimpse of out BPs it'll have NRSA in big capital letters plastered on it.

As an airline pilot myself (former delta connection), the non-rev benefit is something that is great when it works, but an absolute nightmare when it doesn't. Over the last few years I've non-revved domestically and internationally. Domestically 80% of the time I was in Y, 15% in C+, and 5% F. There were however countless times I'd come nowhere close to clearing the standby list. As a DL connection pilot we were below DL mainline employee (both active and retired) so it could be very tricky. Internationally I always cleared to C+, but never made the cut to D1.

I'm still a pilot, but for a non DL affiliated carrier. So my priority is even lower than a DL buddy pass. I don't even attempt it anymore. Too much hassle. I'm back to buying confirmed tickets (Y and the occasional F) to gain status, miles, and overall avoid the headache.

I believe it is correct airline employees should receive these benefits, but I also believe they should drastically limit the benefit to a certain number of segments per year. It's to the point that many airline employees (myself included) can't enjoy this perk of the job because of the dozens and dozens of non revs that list for each flight.